As Mogana Gowri Arumugam was reading the messages from fans and friends on her Facebook account one day in 2017, she was surprised to see a request from the mother of a nine-year-old girl for the singer-songwriter to meet her daughter R Saranya.
The mother explained that Saranya had a brain tumour and that she simply loved Gowri’s popular song “Yenggugiren”. Her daughter, she said, was not only singing it daily but had listened to the song just before and after her ninth operation to help soothe her pain.
Asked by her mother if she had any special wish, Saranya said she wanted to meet the “akka” (elder sister) who had sung “Yenggugiren”.
Touched, Gowri travelled from Johor Bahru, where she lives, to Negeri Sembilan to give Saranya a pleasant surprise. The girl was thrilled. Since then, they have become friends.
It was no surprise then that when Gowri produced a video single called “Poradu” (fight on) last year – a motivational song about people with grit – Saranya featured in it.
Gowri managed to assemble 25 Malaysians who had overcome the odds to help her get the message across in “Poradu” that nothing is impossible if one keeps trying. A couple of well-known singers, including Fauziah Latiff, lent their voices in the video.
With the message that one must never lose hope or give up, the release of the video was timed to help people cope with the Covid-19 lockdown blues too.
“Poradu” won the best music video (director) award for Gowri at the 2020 Buddha International Film Festival – which is dedicated to showcasing new filmmakers – held in India.
But it was “Yenggugiren” that catapulted Gowri to instant stardom among Tamil-speaking music lovers here and abroad.
In 2010, she did an audio version of “Yenggugiren” which was played on Minnal FM, the Tamil radio station, and it became an instant hit.
Later, when she was performing the song on stage, someone recorded it and released it on YouTube, winning her fans from overseas as well. Some of them did their own video adaptations – while retaining the song – and uploaded these on YouTube, ensuring a wider reach.
Encouraged, she came out with her own “official” video version in 2014.
It was voted by the public as the most popular Tamil song by a local artiste, and at an event organised by music station Raaga Radio in 2015, Gowri received the award from famous Tamil movie music director D Imman of India.
“The song ‘Yenggugiren” changed my life. It was a spontaneous song. I’d say that it gave me an identity, with my song being played in so many parts of the world. From the feedback I received, I knew that it had helped people,” Gowri tells me.
The success of “Yenggugiren” encouraged Gowri, a quantity surveyor, to venture into the music industry.
Graduating from Universiti Sains Malaysia with a bachelor of science in housing, building and planning, Gowri joined a local firm as a quantity surveyor in 2002.
However, she quit her job in 2015 to follow her husband Vinesmaran Sivalingam to Johor.
That was when she decided to venture full time into the entertainment business. She says her husband has been very supportive of her new undertaking.
Her eight years of training in “sangeetham” or classical Carnatic singing from the time she was nine blended melodiously into her new career. She was glad that her parents S Arumugam and A Ambiga Thevi had sent her for singing classes.
On May 5, she released her latest single titled “Kanmani” (apple of the eye). Like all her songs, this too carries a social theme and a message. It is dedicated to all women who yearn to be mothers but can’t for one reason or the other.
Coming out as it did just before Mother’s Day, it throws light on a forgotten group of married women who can’t celebrate that day simply because they are not mothers. The song speaks to the heart of the pain of such women – their yearnings and their imaginings.
With alluring music by Varmman Elangkovan and enchanting cinematography by newcomer Pavetra Arumugam, the music video is captivating.
Seelan Manoharan shines as the silent supportive husband of a woman in pain while little Natania Rao, six, as the imaginary child of Gowri in the video, is so lovably cute.
The couple appearing at the beginning of the video are Instagram favourites Pashini and Kesavan Maniraja, who recently got engaged.
As usual, Ipoh-born Gowri wrote the lyrics for the song and directed the video herself.
Except for the first song she recorded, which was dedicated to Guru Raghavendra, in 2009, the lyrics of all her other 15 songs were written by her.
Gowri has directed seven video songs and was line producer for the local Tamil movie Ennaval, released in 2019.
Someone who is always aspiring to fly higher and prove that women are as capable if not better than men, Gowri is constantly learning new things.
She is a self-taught film editor, director and producer. Her singles are released under her own record label Raagawave Production.
Talking about “Kanmani”, Gowri says: “I had a motherly feeling as I composed the lyrics. On Mother’s Day this feeling of emptiness or despair will be even greater for women who have no children or can’t bear children. I know how they feel.
“Kanmani is a song of hope. It tells childless couples not to give up. In fact, many women shared stories about their pain and their yearnings after listening to this song.
“One person recounted undergoing in-vitro fertilisation 12 times before being finally blessed with twins.”
Gowri adds: “We always praise mothers and celebrate motherhood, but what about those yearning to be mothers? Kanmani is for them. Even though they may be in the minority, they need something to lift their spirits. I hope ‘Kanmani’ does that.”
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